Went out way too hard on the first mile. It might have been the lack of a warmup, but it took it's toll regardless. HR was low on the first mile probably because I hadn't warmed up and it was mostly down hill. The rest was on well packed trail, but hillier.

Just before the race, I met this guy in a Trek jersey. We chatted a bit and he mentioned that he'd done the Denver Marathon this year. He looked pretty fit, so I stayed w/ him for the first 1.7 miles when we got on the trail and hit a hill. He turned up the pace and I returned to reality. I would not be staying w/ him on this run. I checked my HR and tried to get it under control. It was at that point that I began to get passed. It was also at that point that I reminded myself to run to my strengths. I got my HR under control, focused my breathing and began to work my way up and down the next few hills fairly effectively by shortening my stride and increasing my turnover on the uphill. On the downhill, I lengthened my stride and took advantage of gravity. While my pace continued to drop, my effort seemed to level out to where I wanted it to be.

Warm up and go out a little more conservatively. Given the situation though, I'm fairly satisfied w/ the run.

I'm not sure why this was so slow. I'd love to have had a video of myself here because I ran in tossed my hat on my bag, put on my helmet, swapped shoes and got the hell out of the transition. I don't know where I would have been slow here.

I'm very happy w/ my bike. As soon as I got out of T1 I felt very good. I got comfortable very quickly and focused on my cadence. Over the first two miles I passed at least a dozen other riders including the dude in the Trek jersey. When I reached the icy patch, I sat up out of the aero bars and took it easy. Once past the ice, it was back to work and I picked up a few more riders. Climbed the steepest hill of the ride and passed another guy while doing it. Got out of the saddle briefly at the top of the hill and then setteled back into the aerobars. Up ahead I saw a by on a yellow bike w/ a disc on the back. He was my next target. Slowly I tried to reel him in. At the turnaround, I got passed by a guy w/ aero bars on a road bike. He looked very strong, but I didn't let him get more than 4 bike lengths ahead of me. We passed the beach and then the boat ramps. He knew I was there the whole time. We crested the next hill w/ him to my right and about 1/2 a bike length ahead of me. I dropped him on the down hill and was just about to the ice patch again when I felt him right next to me again. He dropped back so we could get through the ice safely. Once through the ice patch, I picked up the pace hoping he might pop. No luck. I held the pace as fast as I thought I should but we hit a small up hill and he had more in the tank. He dropped me like a bad habit. I maintained my pace knowing the finsh line was less than 2 miles ahead. Picked off a few more bikers but I never saw him or the yellow bike guy again.

Nothing. I was very happy w/ this ride. I think I did the best I could physically and mentally. When I finished, I was even a little concerned that my legs would hold me up. Absolutely nothing left in the tank which is the way it should be.

Well, I would have liked a little bit of fluid on the bike, but I don't think it hurt me too much.

Just after crossing the finish line, I ran into Mark and another group of guys. Talked with them for a while and low and behold, the Trek jersey guy stops by and says hi to Mark. Apparently they went to high school together. Introduced myself and found out his name is Chris. Very nice guy - glad I beat him :)


1. Run strength. I should probably add some hill repeats to my run workouts. The hills just beat me up.

2. Run discipline. It's good to go out hard, but the rest of my run suffered. Got to back off a bit on the first mile so I can hold a more even pace.


There was only one water station which was at the 2 mile marker, but that seems to be just right. Good race overall.